Surgeon General to speak at HU commencement in May

The U.S. Surgeon General will give the commencement address at Hampton University's graduation ceremony May 12.

Dr. Regina Benjamin will be the university's 143rd commencement speaker and will receive an honorary doctor of science degree at the ceremony, to be held in Armstrong Stadium at 10 a.m.

Benjamin, known as the nation's doctor, is the 18th surgeon general of the United States. She manages the operational command of 6,500 uniformed public health officers who serve in locations around the world.

According to her biography on the Surgeon General's official website, Benjamin founded a rural health clinic in Alabama, which she kept in operation despite damage and destruction inflicted by hurricanes Georges (1998) and Katrina (2005) and a devastating fire (2006). She is known for her work worldwide advancing preventive health care.

Benjamin earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Xavier University in New Orleans and her doctor of medicine degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also holds a master's of business administration degree from Tulane University. She attended Morehouse School of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency in Macon, Ga.